Palestinian citizen of Israel detained in Jordan over possession of painkillers

March 27, 2017 5:39 P.M. (Updated: March 27, 2017 5:53 P.M.)

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian citizen of Israel has been held by Jordanian authorities for the past 12 days for entering Jordan with “prohibited medications,” the detainee’s family told Ma’an.

60 year-old Kamal Ramadan Abu Lattif, a resident of the city of Rahat in Israel’s southern Negev region, traveled to Jordan on March 15 and has been held in detention since by Jordanian authorities who accused the man of bringing forbidden medications into the country.

Abu Lattif’s family told Ma’an that he suffers from severe pains in his back and limbs, and was prescribed a medication called Tramadex by doctors.

According to Israeli news daily Haaretz, who reported on Abu Lattif’s detention, “Tramadex belongs to a group of opioid painkillers that are not narcotics. Tramadex is the market name of Tramadol. According to the World Health Organization, Tramadol in Jordan has been under national control since 2014.”

Haaretz added that according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Abu Lattif’s detention was being handled by the Israeli embassy in Jordan.

The family expressed their shock at Abu Latif’s detention, with his brother saying that Jordanian police gave Abu Lattif only 20 seconds to call his family to inform them of his detention.

Abu Lattif’s brother Bajis said that he immediately traveled to Jordan following his brother’s detention in order to provide Jordanian authorities with Abu Lattif’s medical papers to prove he was a patient and was using the medication for personal use. According to Bajis, however, Jordanian police demanded additional documents and that the papers be translated from Hebrew to Arabic.

Bajis, who returned from Jordan to retrieve the required papers, said he would leave to Jordan on Monday and expressed hope that he could secure his brother’s release.